Lonely Christmas
by Miqila
Summary: Christmas is happy time for some, but for others it's simply lonely...


**Disclaimer: I don't own 7 Seeds**

 **Lonely Christmas**

Natsu sighed as she tried to avoid looking at all the couples and groups of friends on her way home back from errands. It was Christmas Eve and here she was, on her way back home with no plans for the evening. She was fifteen already; shouldn't she be going to karaoke, amusement park, restaurant or something with friends… or maybe even a boyfriend? It was Christmas after all.

" _Not that any guy would ever fall for me"_ she thought _"I'm not smart or pretty and am definitely not athletic, either."_

As Natsu averted her eyes from yet another couple, she locked eyes with someone she knew. A girl from her class, one whose name she wasn't sure she remembered, with a bunch of other girls and some boys as well. If Natsu wasn't mistaken, more than half of the group were from her class.

The girl looked away, whispering something to a friend of hers. Then they looked Natsu's way again, and she averted her eyes from them on instinct.

Despite the distance, she could swear she heard them giggling.

XXXXX

"I'm home!" Semimaru called out as he walked in from the front door, but there was no answer. That was nothing unusual; it was possible that his mom had passed out on the couch again. Taking off his shoes, he went in to their apartment, calling out again: "Ma? I brought Christmas cake! Strawberry, your favorite!"

No answer still. He walked in to the living room, but his mother wasn't there. Frowning, he took the cake to the kitchen before checking his mom's tiny bedroom. Not there either.

" _Maybe my room, then. Wouldn't be the first time she passes out in there"_ he guessed and opened another door, to a room that was actually a closet. She was not there, either.

Semimaru stared a little longer before silently closing the door. Of course, she wasn't there. These days she never was. He had just hoped they could eat Christmas cake together again, just like every year.

No such luck.

XXXXX

"I'm home" Natsu called out quietly, but her mother still heard her with her sharp ears, as usual.

"Welcome back, honey" she yelled from the kitchen "Did you find the cake?"

"Uh-huh" Natsu called back, carefully setting the bag down as she took off her shoes. Putting on her slippers, the girl took her coat off and went to the kitchen to find not only her mother but her sulking brother there, as well.

" _I thought he had planned to go out with his friends…"_ she wondered, but it wasn't really any of her business, so she didn't ask.

"Sis is home, so can we just eat the cake now so that I can go?" Keita asked impatiently, sending a pleading look to his mother. The woman didn't even look at him as she answered: "Of course not; we'll wait for your father to come back home."

"But that'll take forever!" Keita complained, flailing his hands in the air "He might not be home before midnight!"

"Then we'll eat at midnight" his mother replied back easily as she chopped the vegetables "Just spend some time with your sister while waiting; play a game or something."

Keita looked at Natsu, but she just said: "I have a lot of homework to do; I'm going to my room."

She ran up the stairs, ignoring her mother's calls after her.

XXXXX

Semimaru was fed up with waiting; three hours was far too long. He'll eat the cake and if he ends up eating everything then too bad! His mom would've gotten her share if she had just bothered to come home…

Semimaru went to get a knife, a plate and a spoon, but after putting them down on the table he went to get another plate and spoon too, just in case his mom would come home while he was eating. She'd be mad if it looked like he had started without even trying to wait for her.

He cut the cake, taking the first bite from his slice. Pretty plain; he recalled his mom making better ones when he was a child. Long, long ago… he was probably eight or something when his mom had last baked a cake. Even so, the cake was eatable.

Still, he would've preferred to eat it with his mom, like he did every year. It just didn't feel the same, eating it alone like this.

Not the same at all.

XXXXX

Natsu sat on her bed, staring absentmindedly at the blanket as she was deep in her own thoughts. She didn't really have any homework; she just hadn't felt like staying downstairs to play with Keita. Her brother would've just complained about how their mom wouldn't let him go out with his friends, reminding Natsu that she had no such plans.

She didn't want that.

Even so, sometimes she wondered if she was being too petty and complaining for nothing. It's not like Christmas was horrible time for her, not really. The school day had actually been pretty relaxed today and the teacher had been in pretty good mood. They had Christmas food and Christmas cake, which she wasn't a fan of, but the point is that they could afford it without worry and were actually lucky enough to get some before they got sold out… even if the chicken was too greasy and the cake tasted plain. Natsu would've preferred sticking to good, normal food for Christmas, but she couldn't tell that to her mom who always looked forward to the cake.

…Right, her mom. And her dad and brother. She supposed she should be happy about at least getting to spend the Christmas with them even if she couldn't go out with any friends. And she was, she loved her family, but she wanted something more. Why couldn't she have friends who she could go out with on Christmas? Spending it with her family just wasn't the same.

Not the same at all.

 **A.N: Does Natsu appear a bit spoiled and/or shallow here? 'Cause that was my intention; in the beginning of 7 Seeds she** _ **is**_ **a bit spoiled and shallow after all… I'm not completely sure about Winter and Autumn, but Spring and both Summers were put in to sleep in the late autumn (shortly after Arashi's birthday in Spring's case), so this is from the Christmas before that.**

 **Anyway, I realize this might be a bit too depressing for a Christmas story, but since I got the idea… another option would've been a one shot with some of the Summer A candidates, but I just couldn't put it together properly so I went with this one.**

 **About Natsu's brother: in the translation of the chapter where Natsu's hallucination starts, he was called Kenta, yet in the one where the hallucination ends the name was Keita. No idea which one it really is or if either is correct, but I decided to go with Keita. If someone knows for a fact which one it really is feel free to tell me.**

 **Merry Christmas!**


End file.
